Haryana: No yatra, cops escort group of 50 to Nuh temples

Geetanjali Gayatri

Nuh, August 28

Exercising abundant caution to avert any untoward incident, the Nuh administration today allowed only 50 representatives of right-wing outfits, including VHP working president Alok Kumar and three seers, to offer prayers and perform ‘Jal Abhishek’ at the Shiv temple in Nalhar and two other temples in the district. A curfew-like situation prevailed in the district during the day with locals choosing to stay indoors. While the district authorities had denied permission for a yatra in the wake of the July 31 communal clashes, the select group was ferried in buses, escorted by the police, to temples at Nalhar, Ferozpur Jhirka and Singar village in Punhana to “offer prayers”.

VHP leader, 3 seers part of delegation

• Yatra by Hindu outfits denied in wake of July 31 clashes
• Security cordon was put in place at entry points of Nuh
• VHP working chief, 3 seers, 47 others allowed to offer prayers

A multi-layered security cordon was put in place at all entry points of the district, in the city and around temples to deal with any eventuality. However, the day passed off peacefully with no untoward incident being reported.

“We had denied permission for the yatra but there was no restriction on offering prayers. The VHP president and other leaders desired so and we facilitated that keeping the law and order situation and their religious sentiments in mind,” ADGP (Law and Order) Mamta Singh said.

The streets and lanes wore a deserted look amid with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces. Shops and other establishments, including schools and banks, remained closed.Five major checkpoints were set up from the Delhi-Gurugram border till Nuh and commuters were turned away from the Sohna barricade. Besides deploying riot control vehicles, Haryana Roadways buses, fire brigade vehicles and trucks were used to block all arterial roads of the district. “Three seers from Pataudi — Swami Parmanand, Swami Adityanand and Swami Dharmadev — were part of the delegation of 50. As many as 58 duty magistrates oversaw the arrangements,” said Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata. In Gurugram, the police put a few Hindu leaders under house detention as a security measure. While Internet services are likely to be resumed soon, SP Narendra Bijarniya said security would be tapered off gradually.